Nobody Wants To Be Lonely
by She's a Star
Summary: Set in between The Pitch and Fly Away. Using song, Christian tries to persuade Satine to let herself fall in love.


~ * ~ N O B O D Y * W A N T S * T O * B E * L O N E L Y ~ * ~

  
  


by She's a Star

  
  


A/N: Ooooh, absolutely fabulous little title thingie, huh? :) Anyway, I've been dying to write a songfic to this song (Nobody Wants to be Lonely, for those of you who aren't so quick *winks*)...it's always reminded me of Satine and Christian, and it's a lovely song, so I did. :) Aren't you overjoyed?

  
  


Disclaimer: Moulin Rouge belongs to the brilliant Baz Luhrmann, and Nobody Wants To Be Lonely belongs to (gag me...I apologize if you're a fan, it's an automatic reaction) Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera (the "gag me" doesn't apply to her, I think she's awesome :D). Normally, I can't stand him (sorry, once again, to fans) but this song's really pretty so...yeah. Uh huh. My reasoning is brilliant ;) All righty, I shall quit rambling. On with the fic!

  
  
  
  


~ * ~ 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Everything was different. 

Christian could feel it in the air, could hear the soft breeze announcing it so all who took time to listen would know.

He was in love.

Finally, after so many years of dreaming and hoping and wishing, he was in love.

He'd known it from the second he'd seen her. The second she'd opened those crimson lips and begun to sing, sounding so guarded and haunted that it practically broke his heart. Desire had filled him the second her voice filled the room, but it was not carnal...

It was a desire to love, and to teach this woman who had closed off her heart that she could love as well. 

He could tell, he could sense it in her voice, that she wouldn't let herself fall.

As the room had exploded into light and the rowdy cheers of lustful men, and her song turned into one of seduction and flirtation, Christian had watched her put on a mask. Her face wore a sultry smile, her voice grew loud and confident.

As she'd finished her number and approached him, Christian could tell he was looking into a mask. . .her guarded eyes gave that away at once. The other men didn't care, that much was obvious. They didn't even take the time to notice that there was more to her.

Christian had never doubted that she was his soulmate, even as she'd rolled around the Red Room floor as though possessed. He'd been trying so desperately to try to find a way to tell her that she didn't have to pretend around him. And then he had, through his song...

If he hadn't believed that there was more to her before then, he had the second he started singing. The look on her face was one of disbelief, mixed with enchantment.

She loved him, Christian knew she loved him. There was no way she couldn't, after looking at him like that...and the feeling between them couldn't be so strong if she didn't return his affections.

He pushed open the door of his garret and sighed happily, resisting the urge to dance around the room singing happily at the top of his lungs. 

Everything was so perfect.

He could just see his father falling over dead when he found out that his son had fallen in love with a prostitute, but didn't care in the least. Christian was sick of his father and his old-fashioned ideas.

Satine was an angel, merely trapped in the underworld.

And he was the one to help her escape.

Cigarette smoke mingled with the smell of assorted cheap perfumes and made its way down through the hole in the ceiling that led to Toulouse's studio. Raunchy singing and lewd laughter filled Christian's ears. 

However, if he closed his eyes, his head filled with Satine's sweet scent, the freshness of facial powder combined with sultry vanilla. Sighing, he wished that he could hold her in his arms again, as he had when he'd sung to her.

Cruel as it was of him, he couldn't help but be filled with loathing at that duke...

True, he barely knew him, but still, the memory of Satine kissing him and purring, "Let's make love!" was enough to fill Christian with jealousy. No woman could be attracted to the Duke, that much had been proven during his attempt at singing. That cheered Christian up somewhat, and, grinning, he stepped out onto his balcony.

The elephant could be viewed perfectly from it, and Christian felt his heartbeat increase as his eyes fixed upon Satine. She was pacing back and forth, as though trapped, still clad in her black corset and robe. After a moment, she paused and stared out at the Moulin Rouge, then sighed despondently. 

She was lonely.

Christian didn't know how he could tell this. Somehow, it seemed that he felt her emotions as though they were his own. 

More than anything, he wanted to rush back to the elephant and wrap his arms around her, to sing to her, to do anything just to make her smile. 

But then a new fear struck him, quick and painful as a bullet straight to his heart: what if she wouldn't let him in? It was obvious her heart had grown cold over the years; doing what she did, Christian couldn't blame her. But this...this was beautiful and rare and wonderful! She couldn't just close it off, could she??

Words, so many words, flew through Christian's head, begging to be put into phrases that could explain his emotions. With a sigh, he opened his mouth and began to sing.

"There you are in a darkened room...and you're all alone, looking out the window. Your heart is cold and lost the will to love, like a broken arrow."

Though his voice was soft and easily drowned out by the music coming from Toulouse's studio, where celebrations raged, Satine turned and seemed to study him, as though she could hear the words as well.

"Here I stand in the shadows," he continued, voice growing louder as each word escaped his lips. "Come to me, come to me, can't you see that nobody wants to be lonely? Nobody wants to cry! My body's longing to hold you so bad it hurts inside!"

He took a few steps closer, wishing that he could reach out and touch her. She was staring at him intently, looking as though she strained to hear his song.

"Time is precious and it's slipping away!" he exclaimed. "And I've been waiting for you all of my life!"

His voice grew softer.

"Nobody wants to be lonely tonight....why don't you let me love you?"

Sighing, he closed his eyes and allowed fantasies and dreams to engulf him, ones where he held her in his arms.

  
  


~ * ~

  
  


Satine hated the emotions running through her. They were ones she'd never even come close to experiencing, and the sinking realization that it was most likely love had filled her. She couldn't fall in love, she just couldn't! It was the one law in this place of sin! One rule, and she'd broken it.

Still, as she stared at his figure in the distance, she couldn't help but enjoy the new emotion a bit...it was strangely blissful, as though nothing else mattered, and only good could happen as long as they had each other.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and began to sing, slipping into fantasies where they could be together.

"Can you hear my voice?" she asked softly, a bittersweet melody filling the room. "Do you hear my song? It's a serenade so your heart can find me..."

She was running. Running as quickly as she could, out of the elephant, and Moulin Rouge courtyard, both of which were deserted even though it was barely three in the morning. As she flew through the doors that led to the street, they were empty...the eager young boys visiting the Moulin for the first time were absent from the street, as were the money-hungry prostitutes. 

It was as though no one existed but them.

And then...his voice.

"And suddenly you're flying down the stairs! Into my arms, baby oh..."

Satine turned around, and she felt her entire body fill with a giddy sort of happiness. There was Christian, wearing that wide, boyish grin. His angelic voice filled the empty street.

"Before I start going crazy," he proclaimed.

"Oh, crazy!" she echoed, beaming.

"Run to me, run to me 'cause I'm dying!"

Satine obeyed, throwing her arms around his neck. He spun her around the street, and their delighted laughter sang throughout the alleys.

"Nobody wants to be lonely!" they sang together, voices blending beautifully for the first time. "Nobody wants to cry...my body's longing to hold you so bad it hurts inside! Time is precious and it's slipping away, and I've been waiting for you all of my life....nobody wants to be lonely tonight...why, why don't you let me love you?"

The whole world suddenly seemed to pause...the stars stopped shooting across the sky, the windmill stopped turning steadily, and it all seemed to go hazy, as though it were some sort of dream. However, the lovers remained clear, as though the night was verifying that they needed to be together. 

"I wanna feel you need me," Christian sang softly.

"Feel you need me," Satine echoed, tracing his jawbone lightly with her index finger.

"Just like the air you're breathing," Christian continued, caressing her cheek with one lightly calloused hand.

"Breathing," Satine smiled as she sang out the word.

"I need you hear in my life!" they proclaimed to each other.

"Don't walk away!" Christian begged.

"Don't walk away!" Satine repeated.

"Don't walk away," they finished together. "Walk away..."

"Nobody wants to be lonely," Satine sang softly, her voice a whisper. "Nobody wants to cry..."

"Nobody wants to be lonely!" Christian's voice rung out through the night, proclaiming it to the seemingly empty world.

"I don't want to be lonely," Satine sang, voice filled with passion, finally saying aloud what she'd been feeling for so long. 

"Nobody wants to cry," Christian continued.

"I don't want to cry!" she exclaimed. 

"My body's longing to hold you," Christian sang. 

"I'm longing to hold you!" cried Satine.

"So bad it hurts inside," they finished in unison. 

Stars shot across the sky, sparkling like diamonds and exploding into dazzling fireworks. 

"Time is precious and it's slipping away, and I've been waiting for you all of my life," they sang, lips only inches away from each other's. 

"Nobody wants to be lonely tonight," Christian's voice was soft, and Satine felt herself craving to discover what it was like, to feel his lips on her own. And she could, so easily...all she had to do was move forward, and everything would be perfect. Her hellish world could finally be transformed into a heaven she'd dreamed of for so long.

Yes....

Yes...

NO!

Fear and worry at what would occur if she let herself fall pulled Satine backwards, and immediately the city came to life again. Rakes dressed in black suits and top hats all flowed towards the Moulin Rouge as though drawn by some invisible force, and scantily clad prostitutes holding cigarettes in their fingers sauntered around, trying to catch a man's eye.

Christian's eyes were filled with hurt as he stared intently at her, and Satine knew her expression said her apologies for her.

With one last gaze, full of longing for a love that could never be, Satine turned around and walked hurriedly back through the doors to the club. She paused momentarily, however, when she heard Christian's voice singing sorrowfully, asking a single question.

"Why don't you let me love you?"

  
  


~ * ~

  
  


With an exhausted sigh, Satine opened her eyes once more and stared out at Christian's garret, only to see him, back to her, retreating inside. She felt her heart drop a bit, but knew it was for the best. Much as she wanted to, she couldn't let her fantasies of falling come true.

Another sigh escaping her lips, Satine changed back into her red dress, then sat down at her vanity, trying to banish thoughts of Christian from her mind. 

Still, his voice echoed through her head. 

"Duke?...I'm not a duke...I'm a writer...he wasn't trying to trick her or anything...it's about love! It's about love overcoming all obstacles..."

If only.

If only he'd been the Duke.

If only love could overcome all obstacles.

If only love could cause her to fly rather than fall.

There were so many if onlies.

  
  
  
  


FIN

  
  


A/N 2: Just in case this isn't clear (I don't think I expressed it very well) the whole singing in the street part was a little daydream that they just happened to share. Call 'em psychic *muahaha* Mysterious. . .


End file.
